Opposition Slams Govt Squeezing Petronas For Rm32b Amid Layoffs

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Opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin asked why the government demands dividends from Petronas without taking into account the company’s decline in profits and the welfare of its employees.
In a statement today, he said Petronas’ restructuring could have been avoided if the government had not “squeezed” the company for dividends.
The government must answer for this with a rational explanation, as Malaysians have a right to know if this constitutes fair fiscal management, he added.
“What is surprising is that in the situation where Petronas’ profits fell so much, the government still squeezed Petronas to pay a dividend of RM32 billion to the government for the year 2025, the same as in 2024.
“However, if the government did not squeeze Petronas and took steps to reduce the dividend payment rate according to Petronas’ current profit performance, this restructuring that preys on the people could have been avoided,” Hamzah said.
Yesterday, Petronas president and group CEO Tengku Taufik Tengku Kamadjaja Aziz said the company will cut its workforce by about 10 percent to reduce costs amid falling crude oil prices and the effect of unpredictable market fluctuations on its profits.
This will affect more than 5,000 people, Bloomberg quoted him as saying.
Aside from the company-wide restructuring, all promotions and hiring will be frozen until December 2026, he added.
According to the report, Petronas’ profits had fallen by 32 percent last year, after a 21 percent decline the previous year.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the restructuring would affect mostly contract workers.
But Bersatu vice-president Radzi Jidin responded by saying that job losses affect all workers, regardless of whether they are contract staff or permanent employees. - Mkini

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